DS testing me??

[niccig]

DS is normally gentle with our dog, but this morning he was pulling on her ears. I do what I normally do, tell him to be gentle and show him what I mean by gentle touches. He again pulled her ear. So I told him that if he did that again he would get a time out. He went off for a minute or two, then came back, walked straight up to the dog and pulled her ear. I immediately told him he was getting a time out and I turn around to get the chair we use, to find that DS had pulled it out from the table and put it in the time-out spot. He would have done this after I first warned him about the time out. So now I feel he was testing me to see if I would follow through on the timeout, and he deliberately pulled the dog's ear to see what I would do. After the time out, he again swiped at the dog, so he got a 2nd time out. After that, he was gentle with the dog.

DH and I were lost for words. Is this normal for a 21 month old to set up his own time out place and then do something to get in trouble?

Nicci

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

Avi does this all the time, almost constantly. He wants to see if you will follow through and what will happen if he does something he should not. Avi's time-out chair is kept in the hallway and while he has never brought it out he has gone and sat in it when i have told him not to do something.

I think that the thing to remember is to be consistant and follow through, just as you did.

Ilana, aka Nana to my sweet nephew Avi

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